Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-82).

Research as to how humans group natural kinds, such as animals, is essential to understanding categorization processes. However, it lacks conventional application and generalization to everyday life. Humans are social beings that encounter a wide array of individuals on a daily basis. In these situations, we are required to consider various properties that make up these people. As Keller (2005) suggests, the way we categorize is shaped by our theories about the world. Therefore, when we determine the rationale behind people’s social categorization processes, we are better able to understand people’s perceptions of their social environment. Moreover, when we conduct scientific research on how people categorize race, we gain substantial information about their perceptions and understanding of race. Thus, the goal of the present study was to determine how and to what extent people categorize race and if they use the principles of psychological essentialism to do so. In order to determine if people tend to essentialize race in a similar manner as other natural kinds, the third study of the Hampton, Estes, Simmons (2007) research was replicated. In Study 1 and Study 2, undergraduate participants were obtained from Western Kentucky University’s psychology study board. In Study 1, participants were presented with transformation stories in which an animal or person came to look and act like another animal or person as a result of either mutation or maturation. Approximately one-half of the participants received scenarios that included information about the exemplar’s offspring. Approximately one-half received scenarios that excluded this information. Additional transformation stories that described changes to artifacts and the body (i.e. weight and hair length) were added as filler items. Participants rated the artifact/animal/person’s typicality, category membership, and their level of confidence in their ratings. In addition, they provided justifications for their responses. In Study 2, transformations were described as being the result of unintended or intended changes. In Study 2, one-half of the scenarios included a statement that the animal or human’s offspring resembled the initial state, I. One-half of the scenarios included a statement that the animal or human’s offspring resembled the final state, F. Participants rated the artifact/animal/person’s typicality and category membership. They were also asked to provide justifications for their responses. This study provides further support for the belief of race as a natural kind given that subjects were more likely to essentialize race than animals. The study also suggests that people view race differently than other factors related to appearance (i.e. hair length and weight). In both studies, the majority of subjects were willing to state that a person changed if their hair or weight changed; however, they were unwilling to indicate a person could change their race. Furthermore, the justification data obtained in the study was one of the first studies to differentiate the reasoning used by those who did and did not essentialize animals and race.

近二十年來，中國大陸與印度無論在經濟發展，或是國民平均所得都呈現出快速的成長，它也直接促進了兩國的金融體系發生結構性的改變。在資金流動持續的成長及資本市場自由化的時代下，金融擴張、多樣性及全球化已成為必然的趨勢。所以，90年代以來金融自由化已成為中、印兩國，在經濟發展的政策上最重要的一項議題。 本文的研究範圍：是以中國大陸與印度銀行部門的市場化改革作比較研究，分析兩國銀行部門從金融抑制到自由化的過程，依據轉型的過程要素：自由化、穩定化、私有化、制度建立及結構改變等評估指標，檢視中、印兩國銀行部門改革的成效。並採取歷史制度研究途徑及比較法，分別從中、印兩國的國內政經環境、國際金融及國際建制的規範，比較兩國銀行部門改革的原因與轉型的差異，以深入了解中國大陸及印度銀行部門改革的目標及對經濟發展的影響。 研究發現印度銀行體系的制度建立及監管的規範雖然較中國大陸完善，但是在資金運用的效能及經濟的發展上都不如中國大陸。它主要的原因在於兩國的政治體制不同，影響了改革的執行成效。因此，制度的建立與執行要能互相配合才會有實質的成效，否則即使有了完善的制度，但是缺乏貫徹到底的執行力，最終仍將走向失敗。 / For the past twenty years, China and India have seen rapid growth in both economic development and Gross National Product (GNP), which prompted structural transformation in the financial sectors of both countries as well. In an age of growing capital flows and liberalizing capital market, the trends of financial expansion, variety and globalization have become inevitable. Therefore, since the 1990s, financial liberalization has become the issue of utmost importance in economic development policy-making in China and India. This study aims to conduct a comparative research of market reforms in the banking sectors in China and India to analyze the processes from financial repression to liberalization in the banking sectors of both countries. With the factors of transformation—liberalization, stabilization, institutionalization, and structural transformation—as indicators for assessment, this study examines the effectiveness of banking reforms in China and India. By means of historical institutionalist approach and comparative method, this study compares the reasons for reforms and differences in transformations between the banking sectors in the two countries in terms of domestic politico-economic environment, and standards of global finance/ international institutions so as to delve into the reform objectives for banking sectors in China and India and their influence on economic development. The findings of this study indicate that Indian banking sector have sounder institutions and regulations than China; however, they lag behind their counterparts in China in terms of efficient application of funds and economic development. The key factor is that the two countries have different political institutions, which influences the effectiveness of banking reforms. Therefore, only a coordinated effort of institutionalization and implementation may yield substantial results. Otherwise, a sound system without the executive power to carry through is yet doomed to failure.